We need your help! Starting this May, Fifth House Ensemble will partner with Deborah’s Place program staff to implement a 5-week music and poetry residency session at their Rebecca Johnson House.

We have the funds we need to carry out the actual residency, but we need your help to make it bigger and better!

If we raise $50: $5 stipends to each of 2 people for entire residency

If we raise $250: $5 stipend to each of 10 people to participate in program

Our goal, though, is $500: $10 stipend to each of 10 people to participate in program!

What we do at Deborah’s Place

Fifth House musicians Jenny Woodrum Hogg and Eric Heidbreder play alongside Deborah’s Place client performing her original poetry

During our 5-week residency, 5HE teaching artists guide story circles, during which participants lay the groundwork for poems based on personal narratives and common thematic prompts. In following lessons, the women create their own poetry through interactive activities that demonstrate parallels between musical composition and poetry. At the end of our time there, participants perform their original poems in a musical poetry slam alongside a group of musicians from 5HE!

Please be generous!

Stipends such as the ones we are offering often mean the difference between a person choosing to work to sustain themselves or taking the opportunity to better themselves on a personal level. Your contribution could make a world of difference to one of these women!

Making a first-time gift to 5HE, or increasing your giving from last year? The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation will match all new and increased funding this year, up to $25,000. Support these programs today and double the impact of your gift!

"In an era where we risk accountability driving out creativity, it is wonderful to have a program that allows students to learn content at high levels within a fine arts framework. 5HE has demonstrated excellence in using music to do what music does best - reaching minds and hearts."